• Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.caEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    You will never convince me that shit like this is more than just performative play-acting for the sake of their base.

    They aren’t actually fucking praying. They don’t actually believe any of this shit. It’s a tool used to keep the support of their base of white christian nationalists.

    That’s why we see them doing shit like this now than every before.

    In a world where more liberal minded Christians are balking at how “unchristian” these idiots are turning out to be, they have to make these shows louder and more obvious…and make damn sure there’s a camera around, so that they can play even harder to the more extreme supporters.

    If they were to quietly go about their business with no “performative acts of faith”, more people would recognize them as the monsters they are.

    But with shit like this, 81 year old grandparents the country over can look at them and say “I don’t understand what they’re doing, but they MUST be the good guys because look how christian they are…”

    If anyone thinks America is getting out of this without resorting to firing squads and hanging these fuckers upside down in town squares, they’re naive as fuck.

    • parody@lemmings.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      Wealthy republican politicians are too smart(/?) to be religious??

      Top tier engineers in all fields can be found quietly attending church. It’s incredible—religion, a helluva…

      Oh DEFINITELY people like orange hitler prob think about zero about god (idk if he’s literally atheist but obviously not religious)… CERTAINLY plenty of wealthy republican politicians are atheists and will never admit it…

      But ohhhhh boy isn’t it worse that some genuinely believe especially the evil parts of the Bible? (Maybe “worse” is a little unfair, I deeply respect some very ethical & intelligent people who happen to have strong faith traditions)

    • IzzyScissor@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      The most worrying thing is that I think they do believe (a form of) it. They believe their god is helping them maintain power, and is helping people.

      They just don’t see us as ‘people’.

    • iknowitwheniseeit@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      While I’m sure that some are just cosplaying as Christians, i have no doubt that there are true believers there. I mean, RFK doesn’t believe in germ fucking theory, so we know that being crazy is no hindrance from getting power. Is it really so hard to believe that Americans elected Congressmen who believe the earth is 6000 years old?

      • andros_rex@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        9 months ago

        Their god is a vindictive evil fucker. A god of hate, and they mirror themselves in his image.

        The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this. – “There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God.” – By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God’s mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment.

        Johnathan Edwards

    • renzev@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      They don’t actually believe any of this shit.

      I agree with everything else that you’re saying, but I wouldn’t be so sure about this. Have you ever noticed how it’s much easier to start online flame wars when you actually believe in the batshit stance that you’re arguing as opposed to pretending to believe it for the sake of trolling? I think it’s a similar thing here. I don’t think humans are that good at compartmentalising, so in order to do something performatively so often and so well you have to trick your mind into actually believing it in a sort of corrupt way. I know this makes me sound like a middleschooler, but I think George Orwell’s concept of doublethink is very much real in cases like these.

    • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.techEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

      • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.caEnglish
        0·
        9 months ago

        Exactly. But performative acts like this play to their base. And their base is almost exclusively people who haven’t read the very book they profess to follow.

        Most athielsts (myself included) have read more of the bible than any of these people ever have.

      • snooggums@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        9 months ago

        The bible also says to take care of the poor and a bunch of other stuff they actively work against.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.todayEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      Ever see one of those photos with HitlerPig in the middle, with a group of people all with one hand on his shoulder, all with their eyes closed, praying? And there in the middle front, is HitlerPig, who we all know is an absolute Sociopath, and doesn’t believe any of that crap.

      • andros_rex@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        9 months ago

        So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”

        The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

        And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

        • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.todayEnglish
          0·
          9 months ago

          The fact that these liars weren’t struck by lightning while posing for this photo, is proof positive that the God they claim to worship doesn’t exist.

  • Gemini24601@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    I controversially agree, freedom of religion is a fundamental part of the United States’s identity. However, these people could always be praying for terrible things, so there’s a definite duality to this image. That being said, I think that religion can be seen as a mixture of freedom of speech and expression; I believe that this is a human right. Secondly, since I’m assuming that most of you are atheists here, why should you worry about what they are even praying for? If atheism states that there is no all-powerful deity, then this bickering is meaningless. If Christianity and its teachings happen to be true, then it is certain that the Christian God would never be in favor of what’s currently happening. For example, Mark 12:31 states “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Which is the complete antithesis towards current events. As you can see, both possibilities show that God or not, the current administration is not supported by either.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.todayEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      The Constitution doesn’t give us freedom OF religion, it guarantees freedom FROM religion. People can have any religion they want, the government just can’t allow it to influence government in any way.

      • Gemini24601@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        9 months ago

        This is only partially true, as the First Amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” As you can see, practice of religion is not prohibited. My main point is that prayer will probably not have any meaningful impact on the success of immoral decisions.

  • count_dongulus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    Praying is just talking to your imaginary friend, and having it tell back to you what you want to hear.

    These elected representatives are no more mentally developed than elementary school children. Must be from a state full of lead pipes.

    • Goodmorningsunshine@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      It’s worse than that. They’re praying very sincerely to be successful in taking any money and assistance away from poor people, children, and the elderly, and transferring it to the already wealthy. And of course prayer granted. I’m just so sad that the only hell that exists is the one they’ve created on earth, and it’s the one they make for everyone but themselves to live in.

  • jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

    1 John 4:20

    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.

      "So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

      So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

      Genesis 19:34-36

      • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
        0·
        9 months ago

        That must have been some special magic booze to get the old man so drunk he couldn’t recognize that he was fucking his own daughters, yet leave him capable of getting it up to do the deed…

  • graycube@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    It appears to have worked. I guess that’s why they think it will work for mass shootings of school children to.

    • Denjin@lemmings.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      How about one night we smash the windows of Latino owned businesses so they know we really don’t want them.

      • parody@lemmings.worldEnglish
        0·
        9 months ago

        In a just world this would be hilarious

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Words

        b/c it would have to be followed up by a punchline or be a comedian’s punchline

        1000% troglodyte shit, damn I feel bad for someone who could say that unironically

        • boonhet@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          0·
          9 months ago

          Sounds like his wife cuckolded him with a black dude and he was salty or something tbh

  • jjjalljs@ttrpg.networkEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    I’m just going to assume these are republicans and furthermore call them scumbags, hypocrites, and heretics.

    Matthew 6

    1“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

    2“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

    5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

    I don’t know how anyone takes them seriously. They should be laughed out of the room and shunned by polite society. But there are a lot of bullshit “christian” churches peddling nonsense, I guess.